Not so Fast, Google: the FTC Wants to Review That Waze Deal

By Connor Simpson

June 24, 2013

Google's billion dollar deal for Waze was a win, with Apple and Facebook left behind, but the excitement at Google's Santa Clara headquarters will be put on hold while the Federal Trade Commission takes a good, long look at the deal. The New York Post reported the FTC would be scrutinizing the Waze deal, despite the fact that the deal closed on June 11, and Bloomberg and the Wall Street Journal confirmed the news with Google.

The FTC would have to determine whether Waze would have become a head-to-head competitor with Google, whose Google Maps software is the dominant digital mapping and navigation service around the world, or whether there is any evidence, such as emails, that showed Google wanted to acquire the company only to keep it from rivals.

Before the purchase, Waze was seen as the first competitor who stood a chance of potentially taking down Google Maps as the go-to map app.